Baggage restrictions Stockholm to Bergen

habu

We are booked on the Scandinavia tour and I was hoping someone who has done this tour can tell me if there are restrictions on baggage for the flight from Stockholm to Bergen?

Ken from Vegas

Yes, there are the usual major airline restrictions. One carry on and one personal item in the cabin. You are limited to one 50 lb bag on Tauck, so no further issue there. As I recall, I believe we flew Norwegian, but it might have been SAS. Of course, the airline flown is subject to change. We left Stockholm later in the day that Tauck usually does, so we were on a different flight than usual, and possibly a different airline.

habu

Thanks Ken,

This will be our 4rth Tauck tour and although Tauck specifies one bag each we have always taken 3 (one large, two carry-ons). This has never been a problem. I was able to watch a driver load our bus early one morning on our 2nd tour and was amazed at the number of bags he loaded on the big bus. I have never checked but it seemed to me we were not the only couple that had 3 bags. If the plane from Stockholm to Bergen is even a mid sized commercial jet the overhead compartment will hold one of our carry-ons. If not we may have to squeeze our stuff into just two bags. Good reason for not buying to many trinkets.

Ken from Vegas

It was definitely a mid-sized jet, not a commuter plane. You should have no problem.

Regarding Tauck luggage practices, the reality definitely varies from the stated policy. The policy is, of course, one standard checked bag and one small item each.

Here's the reality, based on my experience with a dozen trips. In addition to the one checked bag, a significant number of people bring a carry-on, ranging from a small duffle to a roller bag. Tauck puts these under bus, but separate from the tagged luggage. Usually, you are responsible for getting this carry-on to and from your hotel room. On some trips, the tour director has said that if you want another Tauck tag have the carry-on treated as a checked bag (i.e. brought to and from your room), you can get one. They probably don't do this on most tours with on-tour flights, as it could result in extra baggage fees. I think I've seen a very few people show up with more than one standard size bag per person. This is really pushing it in my book. Either they don't read the policies or they think they're "special."

Your two carry-ons probably don't take up much more space than one standard bag, so you're good.

In theory, if you have more than the allowed number of bags, Tauck could refuse to carry some of your baggage. Obviously, they will try to avoid this. I have never heard of this happening (has anyone?). Of course the reason it doesn't is that most people abide by the rules (or close enough to it).

What my wife and I do is to pack one standard size bag each. In addition, we bring a duffle on the airplane with vital stuff and a change of clothes, just in case our luggage is delayed (knock wood). When we get to the first hotel, we move the duffle and its contents to the standard bags. That way we don't have deal with a carry-on during the tour. This allows us to sometimes push the 50 lb limit by a little bit on tour (since only the airlines weigh the bags).

British

On my many Tauck tours , I have never taken more than one bag weighing more than 44 pounds and a small backpack with all essentials and a change of clothes. What has happened in the past is that when one or two blantantly think they are an exception and break the Tauck guidelines, it can and has resulted in the tour director having to make the bag collection from the rooms earlier than originally scheduled to accommodate the extra bags so that the group leaves on time. Sometimes at the smaller hotels there are not enough staff to cope. To me it’s just unfair. Also when baggage pick up is really early, for example, on our recent tour, we had to have bags ready on three days at 5 am, so every minute in bed is precious. Experienced travelers travel light. Buy a very lightweight suitcase and rethink what you need.

Ken from Vegas

British wrote:

...has resulted in the tour director having to make the bag collection from the rooms earlier than originally scheduled to accommodate the extra bags so that the group leaves on time.

British -

Thanks for the info. I hadn't considered the impact of extra bags on the pickup process. Personally, I haven't seen that on a tour (or the tour director didn't make us aware of the reason for the early bag pickup), but it makes sense. We'll continue to put only one bag each under the bus.

The only time I'm seen a delay for luggage is when someone who had gotten a tag for their carry-on (to be picked up by bellmen) decided to bring it down themselves. This threw the bag count off. The TD had to check all the bags and then figure out who was one bag short. The rest of the group, who had been standing around in the lobby, gave them the evil eye.